Arrangements for feeding a drilling machine or a part thereof are sometimes referred to as feeding-supports or supports, and are for example used when drilling with powerful rock-drilling machines. The arrangement is used to support the drilling machine, to provide feeding-power and/or to counteract reaction forces from the drilling machine.
A lower part of the arrangement is sometimes provided with one or more support legs which provide support against the ground for the arrangement while an upper part of the arrangement is attached to the drilling machine. Hereby the drilling machine with force may be fed in a drilling direction and an operator does not have to press the drilling machine forward. The arrangement often comprises a cylinder, a piston, a piston rod and controls for distributing a pressure medium in/out from the cylinder on any side of the piston. The piston with the piston rod is forced inwards or outwards from the cylinder in dependence of which side of the piston the pressure media is distributed to. A control for controlling the feeding may be arranged on the arrangement or on the drilling machine.
This type of arrangement may be driven pneumatically, i.e. with air or gas as pressure medium, or hydraulically, i.e. with water or oil as pressure medium. An arrangement with liquid as pressure medium often has a slower out- and in-movement of the piston rod as compared to an arrangement where air is used as pressure medium. A slow movement of the piston rod out of the cylinder is usually not a problem since a drilling rate speed of the drill/the drilling machine usually is not very high. On the other hand, a slow movement of the piston rod into the cylinder, i.e. when the arrangement is contracted before a new drilling cycle, means that a time amount needed for a drilling cycle is increased.